Results 5,961-5,980 of 28,255 for speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: This amendment proposes that, "The Minister shall, within 2 months of the enactment of this Act, report to the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection on the progress made in establishing a register of Irish citizens that have died abroad". I have no problem. If the Senator wants me to report progress, all he has to do is table a motion for the Adjournment or on Private Members' time and...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: -----I know the grandparents particularly well. While the issues identified do not appear to represent insurmountable barriers, it is clear that whatever is decided will require careful consideration, comprehensive interdepartmental consultation and discussion among Government agencies. The families accepted that this was going to take time and I was very clear in my comments. When one is...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I have no problem in coming back. I know why amendments are tabled in this manner. There are constraints on Senators that I found frustrating when I was a Member of this House. I have no problem at any time in coming back to the Seanad, if requested by Members, to debate any issue and keep the House informed on what has happened. It is the right of Senators as parliamentarians. We have...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: In any event, there is a saying in Irish: "Is fearr deireanach ná go brách." I trust it will be a great success, because we all hope employment picks up and that we can encourage employers to take on more staff. Unemployment and money problems at the individual level are horrendous legacies of what has happened in recent years.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We had a fines Bill which allows for instalment payments. The court decides what a person can pay. There is always a problem with people on social welfare. One cannot go below the supplementary welfare rate which is the same as the jobseeker's allowance basic rate and the jobseeker's benefit basic rate. The fines Bill is the way to go. The Department recovers moneys owed to it. I get...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I accept that. If people knew the system, they should not go to jail for debts. A court will not require them to pay a debt they cannot pay. A court will not order someone to pay an amount of their income that they need to live on. The instalment payment system introduced by the Fines Act has been a step forward in this regard. Over the years I have seen people go to jail for the...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I approach this from different angles. The Department carries out fraud and error surveys in payments. At times it can be very hard to differentiate between fraud and error and whether a person culpably held back certain information. We all have had constituents in our offices telling us they did not understand the system. Sometimes one believes them; other times not. Then there is the...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: When I came into the Department I was asked in an interview about my role as Minister. On most occasions the media focus on policy changes and I believe in policy changes, but I have often said that if someone owned a factory which had a good policy but was not producing the goods, the factory would not last very long and it certainly would not give a good service. If someone had a...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We pay 2 million people a week and therefore the numbers we are dealing with are huge. It is fair to say that there has been a huge increase in the customer base, so to speak, in recent years but the Senator can rest assured that both I and the Department are focused on delivery. Part of this Bill, for example, deals with the delays in appeals, which we will come to again, but I also...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: As the Senator will be aware, all regulations are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas for 21 sitting days after signing. After this 21-day period, they are approved by Dáil Éireann.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I do not need to accept the amendment because it already happens. There is nothing to stop a committee, for example, examining the regulations before the end of the 21-day period. The Senator has got what she seeks in the amendment.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: At present just over 5,300 mothers reside in another EU member state whose partner or husband is either employed in Ireland or is in receipt of a contributory social welfare payment in Ireland. We should put this in context. Total expenditure on child benefit in 2008 and 2009 was in the region of €2.5 billion. If one takes €2,500 and then one puts €1 million after it, we are speaking...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: This comes back to the question of fraud. At times, we underestimate the safeguards we have in our arrangements. As a Deputy I have dealt with social welfare appeals officers for years and the funny thing is that I cannot go near them now. Until I came into this great job I often went to the social welfare appeals office or sent someone from my office. I always found the appeals system to...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: However, we have to have some sanction for the 10% who just do not turn up and when they are made turn up, they refuse training and work. It is not fair on the genuinely unemployed, who are the vast majority. There are people who never seem to be available. The supplementary welfare system and the appeals system exist for those who are really done down and in common with many Deputies and...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The jobseekers' guidelines proved for a person's family circumstances to be taken into account. For example, it may be unreasonable for a person with certain family responsibilities to seek work which involves a considerable amount of travelling time to and from work. Also, while the guidelines for the jobseeker's scheme do not specifically mention child care, it is one of the aspects which...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Why not? He or she might own a dog.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I agree the training provided should be suitable, although there are very few activities in life from which one would not profit. In my own career, having finished a degree, I wound up as a manager of a farmer's co-operative. I have pulled sheep from lorries and also thrown them into them; I have humped bags on my back and done anything and everything that has had to be done, including...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is why one must consider the Bill from here on in its totality. We pay out €4.3 billion in unemployment payments. Effectively, we put it to the people concerned that they can have the payment, but they must be available for work. However, if they do work, they lose it. That is what we say to them in simple English. We spend approximately €500 million on community employment and...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: There is evidence to show family circumstances are affected by unemployment. My life experience informs me that if one creates employment and people get up in the morning with a purpose, it changes their life and they will say as much. That is where we are going with this legislation. If someone asked me to move in that direction without giving me a sanction for the person who does not...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I cannot agree with the Senator who obviously has not read the whole Bill. Commencement orders are involved. One primary purpose of the Bill is to provide for activation. However, it is a question of considering which comes first: the hen or the egg. As far as we are concerned, it is interlocking. As the Senator is aware, the putting in place of the rural social scheme transformed the...